Oh Phooey. What Should I Write About?

Hey! Church today was pretty fun, there was a new visitor! We always love to see new faces! This guy is from a family of 11 kids and came an hour and 45 minutes to come visit. Two of his brothers work for Scott Brown's ministry, so we felt slightly as if we were meeting someone famous. ;)
Okay. Have you ever watched anyone in a movie or somewhere else say something and think, "Wow! That was extremely ill-timed!"
I do it all the time! For instance, in Little Women, Jo has just refused Laurie, and is being comforted by Beth. Amy comes upstairs and asks what's wrong, listens with a rather blank countenance, and promptly says, "Aunt March is going to Europe." and then interrupts Jo's ecstasy by saying bluntly. "She's taking me."
Isn't that crazy? I know for a fact that if Sarah had just refused somebody, and Uncle Lon had told me he was taking me to France, I wouldn't spring that on her at that moment! I simply can't understand how anyone could be so tactless! :O
(If you haven't noticed, this is a very random post.)
So. I think Anna's blasted goat will go down in the history of "Goatdome" as the slowest in giving birth EVER!!!! She has been "having her kids in 12 hours" since we came home from the trip!!!
(Apparently the "for sure" signs that she'll give birth aren't that "for sure" because we have witnessed all of them days apart during the last week!) This deserves some sort of strange award. Maybe I should make one up: The Daisy Sophia Award: Bestowed upon the creature, human or otherwise who takes the longest in labor. (But I doubt any mother would welcome such an award! :) Whatever.
Vision Forum agains postponed their judging date for the story contest. I highly doubt I'll win anyway, so I am sort of forgetting about it, and will be pleasantly surprised if they come and dump a thousand dollars in my lap! :) Well, that's about all that's new around here! -Rachel

p.s. I'll get to Leanna's post soon enough! Oh! And Abigail, we decided to let you choose one too!

Waltzing With The Clothes Line and The Patience of Job

Hey guys! (this is Rachel) Okay. So I'm having a time judging this contest: Abigail got all but two correct, but didn't finish the quotes, and Leanna only got 3 right, but she did finish the quotes. Blast! Why can't this be easy? I guess, Leanna wins since she did do it all. So tell us something to post about and we will!
Here are the answers for those of you who couldn't figure it out:

1. "Knights and ladies, monks and pages...." (Little women. Jo is reading her story aloud, "...elves and flowergirls all mingled gaily in the dance. Pauline cried out in horror as her bridegroom's mask fell, disclosing not her lover Ferdinand, but the face of his sworn enemy: Count Antonio. `Revenge is mine,' quoth he! Continued in the following edition!"
2. "You're my brother from..." (Fireproof....another mother, but now we got the same father!")
3. "What's that?" "This, my friend is a pint!" ( The Fellowship of the Ring."They come in pints? I'm gettin' one!")
4. "I can out talk, out chaw, out drink, out fight, out dance, Yeah, out fight!...." (Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. "Anyone on the whole Missisip!"
5. "I think I'd like to be a nun. Wouldn't it be wonderful to...." (Anne of Avonlea. "be the bride of Heaven? But then, I'm not Catholic, so I'd hardly qualify for that position!")
6. "I'll settle your hash as soon as I get this premises.." (The Music Man, ".. off of my oldest girl!")

Okay. Now for the remainder of this post. Have any of you all ever witnessed "The Clothesline Waltz"? It is a peculiar dance done by homemakers on a windy day. I participated in one today, and had a very handsome red and white checkered tablecloth as my partner! ;)
Here is how it works: You stand beside the clothesline, and gracefully lift an item from the basket. Despite being heavy, the item flaps around- this is the beginning of the dance. You side-step a bit to keep your skirt out of the way of the wet fabric. Then, gently lifting the item onto the line, you let go with one hand to grab a clothespin- this is where it gets difficult. The line blows forward, and you must lightly step backwards to avoid being slapped. Just as soon as you renew you grip after a quick spin around, (picking up the end that fell during the stiff breeze) the clothesline snaps backward. Then you must do three tip-toes steps forward, and jab the remaining pins onto the item. Voila! The waltz is complete. Now repeat 2 dozen more times. :)
So. The other half comes in here, though on a different subject.
For days now I have for some reason had a very, very trying time of things. Often I have thought that everything happening would test the patience of a Job. You know when something that you've done a million times won't work? For instance, on Wed. (I think?) I had cut out all the pieces to my Scottish attire I am attempting to make. Then my machine went rather haywire. That plan busted, I decided to still be productive, and make bread. Guess what? We terribly badly needed to go shopping, and had no sugar to put in the bread.
Then today, I have spent probably 2 hours total ripping out stitches I had put into the sewing project, because after fixing the machine, I had begun to sew, and between one thing and another, (including a relapse in the same problem) I had to take out the stitches I'd say.....7 or 8 times?) And then, to top it off, I was trying to print off my book for the test families, and had had Mama buy paper and notebooks, and the printer runs out of ink on only the second copy.
Now, there is a point to all this: Whenever I find things going crazily "wrong", I stop and realize that maybe the Lord doesn't want me doing that thing right then. I have no idea why He wouldn't wish me to be sewing today, but He does! And I have found ample opportunities this week to give up my plans, and a chance have a good attitude about it.
I think it is important to remember that each trial we fall into we should count all joy. Really, aren't you glad that Jesus gives us so many tests? It certainly is a good chance to look closer at our spiritual health: Are we really wanting His plan, even in the little things? Are we going to be donkeys and insist on doing things our way?
Anyway, just something to think about! Congratulations Leanna! :) -Rachel

Interrupted Movie Quotes

Okay. This is going to be a post that you all have to help with. I'll start 6 quotes from various movies, and you all must tell me which movies they are from, and try to finish them if possible:

1. "Knights, and ladies, monks and pages......"

2. "I'm your brother from....."

3. "What's that?" "This, my friend is a pint!".....

4. "I can out talk, out chaw, out drink, out fight, out dance,.. yeah, out fight! Out yell....."

5. "I think I'd like to be a nun-- wouldn't it be wonderful to...."

6. "I'll settle your hash as soon as I get this premises..."

Okay! There you go! Whoever can correctly guess and finish the most of these quotes, can tell us what to post about, as long as it isn't a movie, or pictures of ourselves ;) -Rachel and Sarah

I've Done Been Promoted! ;)

Hey guys! For those of you who don't know us personally, you may not have known that we have a family landscaping business: Solid Rock Lawn and Landscape LLC. We are all very active in the business, and for a long time Sarah and I have gone out weekly to maintain our contracts with Dad and Daniel, along with helping out on the bigger, higher-end jobs. You might say that our "specialty" is high-end work. We have the landscape contracts on several very nice homes, and Daniel has gotten to be quite an expert on a 15 foot ladder with a hedge-trimmer, trimming pyramidal holly bushes and making them come out nicely without a second look! :) Here are some pictures of jobs we have done:

This is a Starbucks we did some simple landscaping for

This is a job in the "Rah-ther" fashionable district of East Beach. This is the same home that we prepared for a city-wide garden tour! (That sounded so uppity! :) Doesn't Daniel look mysterious, slinking around on the side?

Here is a sod-job we did. Last one to race onto the emerald grass and flop down is a rotten egg!

This picture and the next are of a home that we landscaped toward the beginning of our business. It had nothing. Literally bare ground, and the big trees you see. It was total blank canvass basically. We put in the steel edging, all the landscaping, the rocks, etc. We are quite proud of this one! Here, we learned that planting 500 little pachysandra plants in the freezing rain and mud is no fun! (Were you there Matthew?) :)

So, as you can see, we do some good work as a family! I don't mean to sound stuck-up, but I don't think there is anything wrong in admiring a job well done! Okay. So last night Dad sat us down and presented a new business plan. From now on we are keeping hours: 9-5.

I am being taken off of regular "outdoor" work, and am appointed Office Manager. That means the office is my domain entirely. I am in charge of the billing each month, of keeping files in order and filing new items, of typing up proposals for Dad, entering new addresses of customers into the computer, keeping an eye on when we must renew contracts, stocking office supplies, printing off any number of things, balancing the business (and home) checking account, etc. Dad gave me the grand run-through this morning, and I am going to be working in here 1-2 hours a day.

Sarah is now our "Media Director" of sorts. She will be designing a website for our business, and will be in charge of doing things of a media sort.

Leah will take my place on the maintenance crew. Wow! So we are getting a bit more official here! I am excited about being able to take the administrative side off of Dad's shoulders. He was cute. This morning he was discussing how it can be confusing to keep track of when contracts need to be renewed, and I suggested, thinking he had thought of this and didn't want to do it this way, "We could write the date they expire on the calendar."

The look on his face was so cute, because the idea had never occurred to him! I think this will be a great practice for me in future life! Who knows! Whoever marries me may get a bonus expert bookkeeper! ;) Well, enjoy the pictures and I"ll see you later! -Rachel

In which I'm tagged

Hey Everyone!!! I thought I'd do this tag/award right now, because I just realized that I'd been tagged so............

Also because I was tagged with this same tag 3 times!:)

Here are the rules-

1. List 8 stories or books that you'd like to live in for 2 weeks

2. List 8 other bloggers who deserve this award

Books/stories I'd like to visit:

1. Little Women (I love the Civil-War times:)

2. The Chronicles of Narnia (maybe not during the 100 year winter)

3. Anne of Green Gables (P.E.I. is supposed to be beautiful!)

4. Scarlet Pimpernel

5. Pride and Prejudice

6. Ivanhoe

7. The Fellowship of the Ring

8. The Music Man (that's a story, right?;)

And I tag:

1. Maddie

2. Abigail

3. Anna

4. Daniel

5.Matthew

6. Kendal

7. Merriette

8.Graham D.

Alright! Well, I've never done one of these things before, so bear with me.

I wonder who created the award? It's very interesting.:)

That's All For Now Folks!;)

-Sarah

In Vogue? Who cares?

Anyone ever think how much culture's idea of "accomplished" changes over time? I think it is just one more reason why the only real measure of success can be the Bible. I was thinking this morning: Too bad I didn't live back in the 1800's. My accomplishments would be much more valued by the Victorians: I am fairly clever with a pencil and paintbrush, I write, I can sing, I can dance, I make it a point to keep myself tidy, I am pretty versatile with handicrafts, I am well-read, I am a good housekeeper, I like to be ladylike.... and the list goes on. I was thinking, I'm not sure if I would be considered "accomplished" to the world at this moment. (Keep in mind that I am not looking for the World's approval, but I am just bringing up the point) I am not quite in the "right place" in my mathbook, :P, I have not been "out in life" as much as some, I do not have my license, I have never had, (and never will) have a "boyfriend", I am not looking at going to college or having a traditional "career", etc.
Standards change so much! I think of the story of Marie Antoinette: she grew up living a relatively sheltered life in Austria, and married at quite a young age into the French royalty. The "fashionable" behavior in the French court and at the Palace of Versailles was shocking! Gambling was the favorite sport, flirting was simply yet another "accomplishment" young women learned, and everything was terribly dirty. Even the glittering wardrobe of the nobles could not mask the stench that hung in every corner.
My question is, who decides what is the "fashion"? I laugh sometimes, realizing that if I wore some outlandish shirt, like zebra stripes and mustard colored roses, and wore it with enough dignity, it could easily become "in vogue".
So what is the measure that we should use to evaluate ourselves? As young women, the Bible is full of stories of noble women. Ruth was not the queen of fashion, but she was made "famous" in the Bible by her faithfulness and humble love for her mother-in-law. Esther's main accomplishment, though she was beautiful, was her courage to stand up for what she knew was right, even though she easily could have been beheaded for coming into the king's presence uninvited. Now, if Esther faced execution, can't we be brave enough to act counter-cultural when we need to? I think so. Let us remember that the only lasting measure of success can only be found in God's word. -Rachel

Empty Nothings. Is that redundant?

Dear people,
Things do pile up don't they? Here are some things I have been catching up on since coming home....

Drinking tea- people in NY don't know that it is the second essential beverage in life! ;) (kidding)

Getting back to a routine- that is harder than it sounds

Writing letters- I have a sneaking suspicion that I am accidently slighting several people who have written me!

Getting back to personal devotional times- unfortunately, and humbly, I must admit that I neglected it in NY. :(

Kissing Gracie: needs no explanation for those of you who have cute 3 year olds in your family!

Gathering inspiration to send out copies of my book: (hello test people! :)

Writing poems- I did one about Winter masquerading as Spring, (uncommon temperatures around here) but the only problem was, I don't like it, because I think it is the beginning of spring, and not a trick. Don't you hate it when you write something that you don't like?

Catching up on reading blog posts we missed: (we'll get to the tag Ozees)

And many more things. It struck me that this must be the most boring post any of you have read yet on here! Sorry! If you want to reassure yourselves that we are not brainless sillies, read the post below this, and satisfy yourself that there is something to us after all! :)
Oh! Anyone want to hear a joke that is such a groaner that it is actually funny? Even if you don't, here it is! (Warning! Please realize that we think this is cheesy. Our style of humor is much advanced! :)

How do you catch a unique bird? Unique up on it!

How do you catch a tame bird? The tame way!


Go ahead. Laugh in a despairing sort of way, and go tell it to your family. It is really hard to keep from telling someone, because it is so ridiculous! *whole van full of church family turns in their seat to look at Sarah* :D -Rachel

"Yoo-hoo! Any Knights Still Alive?"

Hi everybody! I thought I'd take some time this afternoon and do a post of more substantial value than anecdotes from our trip...

Lately I've been reading Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. If anyone of you haven't read it, you really should. It is a brilliant masterpiece. So well-written if fact, that I found myself absolutely intrigued by the picture of knights in shining armor contesting on a field to win the prize of choosing the "Queen of Love and Beauty". Is it any wonder that a girl begins to long for the days of merry old England when chivalry was practiced by most, and cherished by all? When a man would fight to the death another man who had insulted a woman in any fashion? When the prize of keeping a maiden safe was coveted and contested for? I found myself wondering in a sighing sort of way, "Where have all the knights in shining armor gone?"
Isn't that funny? We maidens immediately assume that it the fault of the knights that they are not around. But if we feel that way, we are making a mistake. Let me tell you what really happened...
We maidens were not content to stay at the castle and be maidens. Nay, we refuted the help of a knight too many times. We, in foolish, puffed-up pride, decided that we could rescue ourselves from the dragon of so called "unfulfillment" by wearing the shining armor ourselves. We forsook the art of supporting the knights, and training our brothers to be knights, for some twisted picture that if we wore the shining armor, (that so ill-fits the feminine form and graces) we could rise to new heights, and come out princesses still. But while reaching for that illusive, wrong goal, here's what happened.
The knights found themselves unwanted. They were stripped of their dignity and manliness. Now that everyone wears armor, none of it shines. The armor, and chivalry has been dimmed by wrong ideas, and being refused over and over again. A knight no longer thinks to be strong for a lady. He has been lashed with a woman's tongue too many times, laughed at for trying to help her, and his place has been filled by maidens masquerading in armor, pretending to be happy. This is extemely wrong.
But take heart my maidens, and if any "closet knights" are reading this, listen please:
There is a host of maidens growing up, waiting willingly to be rescued by a true, chivalrous knight. There is another host of knights, who are dusting off their armor, daring to be men, and opening doors for ladies, whether they want it or not.
Let's not be deceived in thinking that chivalry has and always will have gone the way of leg-warmers, and bell-bottoms. No. But we as maidens must take pains to show the willing, but shy knights, that we are of a legion who wants to be rescued. And in this God-given position, we will find true fulfillment in being princesses: Daughters of the King of kings.

There's No Place Like Home!:)

HEY EVERYBODY!!! WE ARE BACK!!!!

That is is the sum of my feelings right now! I am so glad to get back home to my family! I had a BLAST in New York, but didn't realize how out of the action I had been till Gracie ran down the airport hallway with a balloon to hug me! (Well, all 3 of us, but this is Rachel typing!) So, we will try to do a post with pictures soon, but the trouble is that Matthew was employed as official photographer with his Nikkon d50 (or some fancy camera) and so he has all the pictures! We got some great ones! Sarah and I had a photo shoot at a park with him, and the pictures turned out great! In the Baltimore airport today, Matthew took a great one of Daniel with a huge cookie! He has such a roguish look on his face! :) Matthew took 430 pictures, and Daniel took video, so somehow, we'll be able to do a post with pictures. Last night we did 3 funny interviews that had us cracking up.
Uncle Lon and I were Johannes, and Helga Spitzenburg, Christina (a NY Freak) was a hoodlum playing for the Boston Red Sox, and Daniel was Mr. "X", the renegade son of a Baron. (the baron part was my idea ;) Oh. To explain the NY Freak thing: It is from the animated movie "Madagascar", which I cannot fully recommend due to some rude humor, but which otherwise, was hilarious! Anyway, this crazy lemur calls these zoo animals the "NY Freaks" and Christina labeled themselves that. Anyway, we had such a great time, and will do a fuller post soon. Thanks Uncle Lon and Aunt Heather for hosting us and being so generous with your Winter Break! And thanks Matt, Christina, and Corisa for coming over and letting us teach you "signs", "rhythm", and just goofing around! Now Sarah is going to post a bit.....

Hi Everyone!! As you know, we are back! Our flights were very good, not any turbulence, and no sick passengers. Well, except for the one that made a mess on the plane right before we boarded.:P
So have ya'll had a good week? I miss all my friends! Thankfully tomorrow's Sunday so I hope I'll see most of ya'll then. Well, I'm really tired, so I suppose you will have to wait a bit longer for pictures, as Rach said. Bye!
-Sarah

Hey Guysies! (?)

Hi Everybody! We are still in the state of NY and having a great time! Yesterday we went down-hill skiing!!! I am no Olympian, I can tell you, but I managed to go straight down an intermediate hill without falling, twice! (the third and fourth time I fell, because I was wearing glasses and they got all fogged up and I couldn't see where I was going! :D) Anyway, I (Rachel) ended up being very fashionable and "cool". Quite on accident! It worked this way, I had never been on a chair lift, and so everyone went up ahead of me, and I got on my own chair quite nicely. I just sat down and held onto one of the sides. It proceeded to swing me 40 feet into the air, and I was thinking, "Wow. Sort of risky feeling. I'm wearing slick ski pants and if I let go of the side, I'd probably slide right off!" But nothing risked, nothing accomplished, right? Then Daniel, upon my approaching the spot where I had to jump off quickly, yelled to me, "Raise your bar!!!" I gave him a rather confused look. The expression of slight panic on his face was precious to behold when he saw that I hadn't used the bar provided for safety! Ha! I had ridden the whole way thinking that the chair-lift was simply a risk anyway, and, unbeknowst to me, had been "cool". That's the way all "cool" skiiers ride the lift. Hee-hee! It was alot of fun! Sarah and I made it to the intermediate hills. Aunt Heather tried to teach me "carving". That didn't work for me. I couldn't turn well at all. We were at the top of the mountain and I was following behind her, when suddenly I picked up speed and started flying down the hill. I merely called back to her, "I think I'm going!" and I am still alive to tell the story. When I fell once, my skis came right off, and I rolled wildly down part of the hill. Some guy on the chair-lift called down, "Are you okay?" and I answered overly cheerfully to assure him of the truth of the statement, "Yeah!" I can't imagine anything more embarassing than being rescued by the ski-patrol. I would have fainted from mortification. So I carefully retrieved my skis, found that it was too steep to put them back on, sat down upon them, and slid to a gentler slope, put them back on with sarah's help, we got run over by a snow-boarder, and then I continued down the hill. It was a blast. Matthew and Daniel made it to the black diamond trails. I think we all did a great job considering we'd never been down-hill skiing before! They stopped in the middle of the "freestyle" course when Matthew went off a jump and did the splits. :) It was time to leave anyway! Well, hope you all are having a great time, and we'll see most of you guys pretty soon I hope! Oh! If Maryanna is reading this, I am making you a nice round-robin like Sarah is doing for Hannah, so you can read it when I get back! (If I haven't blabbed it all to you already! -Rachel

Greetings from Niskayuna!!!

Hey guys! This is Rachel and Sarah here in NY! Sorry we can't post pictures right now, but this isn't our computer and we don't have the right camera...etc. hopefully pictures to come when we get home! Okay! So anyway, the flights went uneventfully Friday. I (Rach) sat with Matthew and a guy who had an awful cough (a nice rendevouz with Germ-Ex ensued) and another guy who looked precisely like Despereaux Tilling's dad. Strange that I see people oddly. Friday night we went to a NY cousin's basketball game at a Christian school. They won. We stayed up late watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The next morning we slept in and didn't eat breakfast till 11:30. Yikes! That messes me up. Sarah and I successfully survived a guitar store with all sorts of strange spiky guys wearing nails and black and red clothes, and piercings all over. (We hid in the acoustic room which felt like a rainforest it was so humid.) There we all met an elderly man named "Roger" who showed a very..... interesting... song he had written! We stayed up late again talking and watching the Olympics! USA did really well in the women's mogul! Sarah is gonna tell you about today! We missed everyone and our family at church! :( :( :(

Hey Mama and everyone at home by the way! Did you get my message this morning! Sarah is fussing at me so I'd better go! ;)

Hello!! We've had a great weekend as Rachel has already explained. So today we woke up, ate, got ready and went to Grace Fellowship(the laundry fairies' church) and that was really good. They have a nice worship band and the speaker was good, too. Afterwards, we went to a local Italian bakery called Bella Napoli and bought some delicious pastries. Matthew and I got Triple Chocolate Mousse cake!!!! I still have a bit of it left, after 2 servings, but Matthew ate all of his in one sitting!;)

We came home and played Scattergories, and then ate lunch. Then we went to Saratoga Springs to walk around the old part of downtown and go to the military museum. On our way we saw the Mohawk River all jammed up with ice that had broken apart up river in the thaw, and made it's way down, to get frozen, yet again. It was really interesting to see. So the museum had displays on New Yorks participation in the 4 bigger wars. It's always fun to learn more about those times.

Well, Matthew needs to post as well, so I should probably wrap it up! I hope everyone had a good time at church today! See you soon!

-Sarah

p.s. We got really great hot chocolate at Borders, and I chose my souvenier from this trip: two books. I am a renowned bookworm! I bought Ivanhoe, (an awesome book!!!) and "When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne. It is a hilarious collection of his poetry! Sarah bought "Rose In Bloom" (Alcott) and a Jane Austen trivia book. Watch out Thompsons, here we come! :)

-Rachel

The Shoreline is Vanishing In the Mist and My Suitcase Ain't on the Boat ;)

Goodbye! Au Revoir! Aufwiedersehn! Ta-ta! Toodle-loo! Fare-thee-well, God-speed, Bon Voyage! If I don't see you in the future I'll see you in the pasture! :) Gotta' Skitter! See you later! Bye-bye! Cheerio! Aloha! Bon-hommie, and any other sort of way to say "so long"

"So long, farewell, aufwiedersehn, goodnight!
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight!
So long, farewell, aufwiedersehn adieu,
Adieu, Adieu, to you and you and you!"



Well, just a few, more hours, actually, one hour and 25 minutes till we leave! See you later! We'll post in NY hopefully! Enjoy the Olympics and the snow we might miss on Tues. and Wed. Thanks for being our followers and readers and we'll see you later!
-Rachel and Sarah

Art by Gracie

Hey Guys!(and gals)

Mom thought that I should post some of Grace's recent drawings of 'people'. They are so cute, and she thinks them up all by herself!

So this is a lady and a man. I don't know why there are 4 balls on the bottom of the guy, but they might be hands and feet. And do you see the lady's dress?:)

This one is Mom's favorite! It sorta looks like Stitch on "Lilo and Stitch" though!

But it's still pretty good for her, since she's only 3.

I know this is really short, but I didn't really have anything else to say except...

Oh! Yeah, we're getting all ready for tomorrow:packing, last minute shopping, etc. It seems like this year the trip has crept up on us! I still don't really have it in my head that tomorrow, at around this time, we'll be in New York! Another thing: with all the snow we've been getting, you'd think that up North, they would at least have some snow, but actually they got 1/2" yesterday, and that's all that's on the ground!! And it is cold enough. But anyway..

I should probably go now!

-Sarah

My First Rendezvous With 460 :}

Greeting Fair Followers. ( And you not-so following people who merely read this :) I feel quite glad to be alive tonight. We are packing for our trip, (day after tomorrow) we had a family over and made valentines, and I survived driving down 460 in the dark, and did not kill myself or anyone else. Up till now I had only driven on small country roads and at the fairgrounds in the day. Dad, tonight, had me drive on the biggest road out here, with eighteen-wheelers and all other manner of things, and in the dark. First time on a public road, first time in the dark, and I actually made it home in one piece! Dad said I almost got pulled over by a Sheriff at the fairgrounds. We must have looked suspicious doing figure eights and all in the parking lots! Dad said he was watching us for awhile. Glad I wasn't speeding! :) According to my driving instructor who has raised me since birth (Dad of course) I am doing well driving. I feel a terrible animosity toward our 15 passenger van. And with high winds tonight, all the stories of how easily those things tip flooded my mind. But I am thankful that Dad and I prayed before I started, because I had no real fear. Just ready "Blast this wind!" at the tip of my tongue! :)
Yes, time is dwindling for us leaving for NY!!! We are going to try to do a post up there! Yay! We are all hoping desperately that there will be snow on the ground. Uncle Lon and Aunt Heather say it is barren. What is the North without snow? Shocking! This is entirely off subject, but Anna's goat is most likely pregnant and will kid in about a week or two. I guess, (and this is so strange) but you can't tell truly if they are pregnant or not until a week or so till the baby is born, and then their udder fills up. It seems strangely inefficient, but I am not goat expert, and we have heard this from a reliabe source. Okay. Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments last post! This is a really weird question, but does anyone know how you make one of those quiz things? You know, where you answer questions, and then it tells you which character you are? I thought it would be fun to do one about my book. (And by the way, you who I asked to be test families will be getting your copy around the end of February. I will get right on it after my trip!) Well, this was sort of a post of no-account, but it caught you guys up on our life, and so, all that is left to say is Bon-Voyage! Or, shall I be that charming villain Willoughby, and say with an elaborate bow,
"Let us not say fare-well, but as the French say: `Au Revoir!'"

(I find that man so despicable. How could Marianne be fooled by his outright flattery? Yuck!)

Okay! While on the subject of goodbyes, who can tell me why some famous guy or another said, "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"? It makes no sense to me. Partings are rather bothersome. You are bound to cry yourself, or at least get teary when someone else does, and everyone scrubs at their eyes and makes feeble jokes which everyone else laughs far too heartily at, just because it relieves tension and.... I am beginning to rant so I'd best sign off here! -Rachel

Oh! Don't forget to read the Valentine greetings on the sidebar!

"I Am Blanking Out On A Title For This Post "

Dear Blogging People: How are you?
By the way, does anyone else have trouble finding ways to open up a post? I do not seem quite able to master the art of an enthralling first word. Maybe if I started out something like, "It was a dark and stormy night..." and the rest would soon follow, "and Rachel sat typing at the keyboard." Not gonna cut it is it? Here is something that you will soon hear about if you talk with me about poetry: I do not in any way, shape or form like un-rhyming poetry. (generally.) That being said, I shall post a couple of poems that Sarah and I made up simply to disgust ourselves by pretending to be Mr. Carl Sandburg who is characterized by calling fog "cat feet" and all a manner of other things strange:

"The jaguar moves on silent feet-
Velvety feet through the jungle.
Where is he going?
Only he knows.
On velvet feet he steps across a log--
A dead, moss-covered log.
Startling a bird
He pauses- velvet
Paw held in the air.
Dark mists hide
Him
Where is he going?
Only his velvet feet know."

Now, if that weren't disgusting enough, here's one more:

"Drifting in endless columns
From the
Chimney where it came,
Choking columns float toward the sun,
Like a form of night,
Paled by the sun.
Gray smoke cloaks the
Lone pine from
My watching eyes.
I think- what is
Smoke?
A nightmare in
cloud-form?
A rain-cloud gone
Astray or perhaps
Just the cloud rising from
The logs on the
Hearth. I wonder, and
Watch the lone pine
Disappear in the
Smoke."

Okay. Bear with me. We were laughing so hard because people get famous from writing stuff like that. Who can call such things poetry? I am incredulous at some of those sorts of things. They are the most boring scribblings in the world I think. Here is a rhyming poem that I wrote about the subject:

"Analogies"

Like a truffle without chocolate

Like an apple without peel,

Like a mouth without a smile

Like a letter without seal,

Like a ring without a diamond

Like a watch without the time,

Like a fountain without water

Is a poem without rhyme.

Okay. And just for you Joanna, (and someone better comment or I'll never post poetry again) here is the one about our forest in the snow:

"Snow Lace"

The finest kind of lace I know

Is what the trees wear in the snow:

Their barren arms are covered quite

With snowy lace of dazzling white,

And glad I am to finally see

Them traced in silver-filigree.

The trimming on a wedding dress

May never fail you to impress.

And yet, a costly bridal veil

Beside the snow is coarse and pale.

More shimm'ring than the milk-weed down

Can be the greenwood's marriage gown--

And lo, the roots are even shod

In lace spun by Almighty God.

Okay. Hope you enjoyed that someone. And please believe me when I say that Sarah and I do not think the first two poems were good! They are impeccably revolting! :) -Rachel

Something Quick

'ello! This is me, Sarah. I was just gonna do a post, but first: did any of you watch the Super Bowl last night? and if so, who were you rooting for? Most of my family was going for the Indianapolis Colts(I didn't know much about either team, but I liked their colors and heard some things about the other team that I didn't like) I still don't know who won, but in the 3rd quarter, the Saints were way ahead, so........anyway.

Last night on the way home, Daniel and I were listening to songs on his iPod. I heard this one song that stuck out to me. It's called "Beloved" and it's by Tenth Avenue North.

Love of my life

Look deep in my eyes

There you will find what you need.

Give me your life,

Lust and the lies

The past you're afraid I might see.

You've been running away from me.

Chorus:

You're my beloved,

Lover I'm yours.

Death shall not part us

It's you I died for.

For better or worse

Forever we'll be

Our love, it unites us

It binds you to me

It's a mystery

Love of my life

Look deep in my eyes

Then you will find what you need

I'm the giver of life

I'll clothe you in white

My immaculate bride you will be

Oh, come running home to me.

Chorus

You're my beloved

Forever we'll be

Our love it unites us

It's a mystery

I took this song to be the idea of the Lord being the bridegroom of his people and the church. I've come across this subject a few times recently. We, as young ladies not ready for courtship or marriage, need to be focusing on falling in love with Jesus. It's very easy to be distracted by things of the world, but in this period of our lives, the most important thing we can do is to grow our relationship with the Lord. The Bible compares Christ and the church to a bridegroom and bride. I think that as young women we need to be as, or even more eager and passionate in loving the Lord right now, as we will be in the future in loving our husbands. That's just been in my mind recently, so I thought I'd go ahead and share it with ya'll!
Hope it wasn't too boring! I hadn't really collected all my thoughts about it till now.
-Sarah

6-word descriptions, valentines, and various musings of Rachel (which should be enough for most of ya'll to come see what I've come up with!)

Hey guys! Okay! I will post the 6-word descriptions of two people, and later, when she's around, Sarah will do the other two. Right-O!

Abigail: spunky, dancing, dramatic, giggles, considerate, enouraging

Joanna: my-girl, stylish, SINGING!!!, hugs, smiles, homemaker

There seems to have been a fifth person, but he already described himself. It is none of our business to refute one's own opinion of oneself, but I shall only say, all six things were redundant, and so did not fit the quota of 6 words describing the person.

Okay! So today we got just enough snow to make it nice and silvery-filigree on the trees! I wrote a poem about it, but I'm not sure if anyone cares to read my poems on here. If you do, leave a comment, and I'll tell you about it. Let's see.....

We were supposed to go to an ice-skating party, but bad weather cancelled it. (Boo-hoo-sob-sob. I've never been ice-skating before!!!) But that is alright, because at least we didn't have to be the ones cancelling it. The hostess did herself! I made three valentines today. I can't show pictures of them here, because they are for some of the gals that read this blog and so that....would be no fun at all! :) I will only say that I watercolored them and used hand-crocheted lace I had never found out what to do with after I made it, and had a load of fun! At the top, in case you were wondering, is the picture I watercolored for Alaina's 18th birthday. (The hostess of the aforementioned ice-skating party.) I am in love with the 1800's fashions and life, only I wish that there wasn't the whole industrial-revolution, feminist movement thing! Tell me how you like it! I can see several flaws in the painting, but over all, I think it turned out nicely. We leave for NY on Friday! Yay! The Laundry-fairy has paid for Sarah, Daniel, Matthew and myself to fly up their for 8 days! It is now a yearly tradition. This'll be my 3 time. We feel so rich going through the airports.... ahhhhhhhhhh......*sighs happily*. The first time I was the teensiest bit scared, mostly that I'd be sick. But then when we got to the lay-over in Baltimore, I was wanting to go walk around the airport. They have the best Mexican resteraunt there! Has anyone ever noticed that airport food is pricey? 3 of us shared a latte or something from Starbucks, and it was like 9 dollars!!! Oh! Mama had a brilliant idea the other day! If we start saving our money now, then when Sarah turns 18 (2 and a bit years) then she'll take us two to Prince Edward Island in Canada! I am wild with delight! I know I must get there someday, somehow. If not then, perhaps on my honeymoon? Or if not then maybe for my 50th wedding anniversery? And if not then..... this sounds like that segment on UP when they keep breaking that money jar doesn't it? And I'm sure it's really boring to read!

Oh! At Matthew's surprise party last night we did skits, and I played a part I'll never live down.

WAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!

Okay! Talk to you all later! -Rachel

p.s. Matthew may post videos of it so stay tuned!

Later:

Alright! This is Sarah and I'm doing Kelsey and Matthew's 6 words thingy.

Matthew: good-friend, athletic, fun, sincere, responsible, my-cousin :)

Kelsey: friendly, funny, giggles, creative, tall, energetic

Okay, there you go! I hope I did them well. I don't know Kelsey very well but I did my best!:)

-Sarah

Just 6 Words?

Here we are today. We now belong to the privileged legion of people who have bedsteads! Last nigh was our first night in our new beds! Yay!!!! We will do a post about that very soon, since we've taken lots of pictures. You'll have to bear with us though, because our camera doesn't even have a zoom, so we had to jerry-rig all the shots, and try to stand just close enough and bend your body at such an angle that you get the right shot. Anyway, Sarah and I are going to proceed describing each member of our family in 6 words. If you want us to, we'll do that to anyone who leaves a comment! Okay, I start:


Dad: worker, leader, steady, practical, outdoors, soft-hearted

Mom: good-sense-of-humor, kind-hearted, playful, teacher, creative, musical

Daniel: diplomatic, funny, gentlemanly, noble, loyal, debonair

Rachel: creative, sweet, humorous, sometimes-slightly-random, old-fashioned, romantic (not the lovering kind....most of the time:)

Sarah: roguish, impudent-in-a-funny-way, technical, fun-loving, spur-of-the-moment-ish, thoughtful

Leah: content, peaceful, compassionate, loyal, easy-going, homebody

Anna: impulsive, opinionated, bright, witty, soft-center, frank

Benjamin: miniature-Dad, thoughtful, compassionate, entrepreneurial, creative, dramatic

Abigail: Sweet, pixie-face, quaint, homemaker, repentent, mother

Grace: sweet, imaginative, a ham, silly, theatrical, cuddle-bug

Grandma June: fun-loving, nature, family, compliments, generous, green-thumb

So there you have it! Now if you want to be done, just leave us a comment! (purty-please)

-Rachel and Sarah

Wisdom From a Day Gone By (that still stings! :)

Hey guys! Well, Sarah and I were doing dictation in school, and we had to hand copy (thankfully not dictation this time) part of a sermon by Charles Spurgeon. What had started out as a large task (handcopying it all) actually turned into a blessing because the words of this man, long dead by now, still ring true today, and they are actually something that we still struggle with sometimes! I just thought I'd share the excerpt we copied for you to hopefully enjoy and be challenged by:

"They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power."

Psalm 145:11

You have only to look at the preceding verse, and you will discover, in a single moment, who are the people here spoken of who shall speak of the glory of God's kingdom, and talk of his power. They are the saints: "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee." Possibly some will ask, "Well, sir, how can we talk about religion? Upon what topic shall we converse? How are we to introduce it? It would not be polite for instance, in the company with which we associate, to begin to say anything about the doctrines of grace, or about religious matters at all." Then, beloved, be not so polite; that is all I have to say in reply to such a remark as that. If it would be accounted contrary to etiquette to begin talking of the Savior, cast etiqette to the winds, and speak about Christ somehow or other. The Christian is the aristocrat of the world; it is his place to make rules for society to obey,-- not to step down, and conform to the regulations of society when they are contrary to the commands of his Master. He is the great Maker of laws; the King of kings, the Lord of lords; and he makes his people also to be kings. Kings make rules for ordinary men to obey; so must Christians do. They are not to submit to others; they must make others, by worth of their principles, and the dignity of their character, submit to them. It is speaking too lightly of a Christian's dignity when we say that he dare not do the right, becausei t would not be fashionable. We care nothing for that, for "the fashion of this world passeth away." "but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." ....First, here is A SUBJECT FOR CONVERSATION: "They shall speak of the glory of they kingdom, and talk of they power." Here are two subjects; for God, when he puts grace into the heart, does not lack a subject upon which we shall converse. First, we are to converse concerning the glory of Christ's kingdom. The glory of Christ's kingdom should ever be a subject of discourse to a Christian; he should always be speaking, not merely of Christ's priesthood or his prophesying, but also of his kindom, which has lasted all eternity; and especially of that glorious kingdom of grace in which we now live, and of that brighter kingdom of millennial glory, which soon shall come upon this world, to conquer all other kingdoms, and break them in pieces." -Charles Spurgeon "Christian Conversation"

Isn't that great? He is so very blunt and honest that it cracked me up! I actually laughed out loud when he said, "Then, beloved, be not so polite. That is all I have to say to a remark like that." I love people who fearlessly say what is true, but with tact ;) Anyway, I thought that it was a great reminder that God's principles are timeless, and about being culture-leaders. Hope that blessed someone! -Rachel

p.s. Doesn't he look like a little fire-cracker? (That is obviously Charles Spurgeon, not my grandfather! :)